?The plums are golden and the apricots are fat, and the wheat flowers, white snow and cauliflower are sparse. No one passes through the fence in the long day, only dragonflies and butterflies fly in the gorge. ?The Xiaoman countryside described by Fan Chengda, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, is a peaceful and vibrant summer landscape painting. Ancient Chinese people divided Xiaoman into three periods, which we will introduce today. What do the three solar terms of Xiaoman mean?
Xiaoman is the second solar term in summer in my country. At that time, the temperature rises significantly and the rainfall begins to increase. However, it will still be cooler in the morning and evening, and the daily temperature range is still large. The temperature drops especially after rainfall. In terms of agricultural production, the grains of summer-ripening crops such as wheat in the north have begun to be full, but are not yet mature, so they are called Xiaoman, which corresponds to the ancient saying that "things are so small that they are full".
The working people of ancient my country divided the Xiaoman solar term into three seasons, namely "the first period when bitter vegetables show", "the second period when weeds die" and "the third period when wheat comes to autumn". Although the Xiaoman season heralds that the wheat will be ripe, it is still in a lean stage after all. In the past, people often used it to satisfy their hunger during this time when bitter vegetables were on display.
"Piya" uses tea as a bitter herb. "Mao's Poetry" says: "Who says tea is bitter? That's right." Bao said: It tastes bitter due to the smell of fire. "Erya" says: "Those who are not glorious but practical are called beautiful, and those who are glorious but not practical are called Ying." This kind of poor man should be called Ying. Bao said: It tastes bitter due to the smell of fire. ?Cai Yong's "Yue Ling" refers to bitter vegetables.
Concerning the "Second period of death of wild grass", Zheng Kangcheng and Bao Jingxiang both said: wild grass is a genus of Tingli. "Book of Rites" notes: "The branches and leaves of grass are thin and thin." ?Fang said: ?Anything that is born in response to Yang is strong and upright; anything that is born in response to Yin is soft and weak. ?According to the writings in these ancient books, the so-called wild grass should be a plant that likes shade. During the Xiaoman solar term, summer begins to enter all over the country, and the death of weeds is a sign of the increasing yang energy of the Xiaoman solar term.
The so-called "Three Weathers of Wheat Autumn Solstice" actually means "Three Seasons of Minor Heat Solstice". Later, "Jin Shi Zhi" changed it to "Wheat Autumn Solstice". "Yue Ling" says: The wheat autumn arrives in April; the minor summer heat arrives in May. Xiaoman is the energy of April, so it is easy to change. The word "autumn" for wheat autumn here refers to the time when all the grains are ripe. Therefore, although it is still summer, for wheat, it is the mature "autumn", so it is called "Wheat Autumn Solstice".